To Absent Friends - Joe Tait

 Joe Tait

"The Voice of the Cavs"

1937-2021

People often ask me - okay, maybe not often, but sometimes they ask me - "How do you decide who gets an Absent Friends recognition?"  

My answer is that it is a completely subjective thing on my part.  Sometimes the person being recognized may be relatively unknown to most readers, but they are of special interest to me, or there is something just just "connects" me, on some level, with the person being recognized.

Such is the case with Cleveland sportscaster Joe Tait, who died last week at the age of 83.   Tait is being properly eulogized as the longtime radio and TV announcer for the Cleveland Cavaliers.  He was the team's first play-by-play guy and broadcast over 3,000 Cavs games before he retired in 2011, a career that led him to being formally recognized and honored by the Basketball Hall of Fame.

So why am I noting this? Well, many of you may know that right after we were married, Marilyn and I moved to Cleveland, Ohio.  That's where my job was.  We lived there for four years, 1974-78, and we spent many an evening over those four years listening to Tait broadcast not only Cavaliers games, but Cleveland Indians games as well.  He was a terrific play-by-play guy.  Great voice.  Seeing his name and learning of his death made me feel bad, but it also brought back a lot of nice memories, and THAT is why Joe Tait becomes an Absent Friend.

Couple of things that I remember about Joe Tait.

1. He began every Indians broadcast, regardless of the weather or how lousy the team was, by saying "This is Joe Tait, and it's a BEAUTIFUL night for baseball."
2. He signed off every broadcast by saying "Have a GOOD night, everybody,"
3. He made a conscious decision to not drink alcohol, not for any high moral reasons, but because he knew that the lifestyle of a sports play-by-play guy, being on the road half of the year and always having access to hotel bars, could have led him to having big problems down the road.

I also noted in his obits that he retired in 2011, when he would have been 74.  That's an advanced age to retire, but he apparently recognized when it was time to hang up the mic.  I can name a lot of sportscasters who need to learn that lesson.

RIP Joe Tait.